


Making Some Headway

by My_Alter_Ego



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, The little bust of Socrates on Neal’s desk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego
Summary: Neal is an enigma to most—a Gordian Knot that can’t seem to be unraveled. But, nonetheless, Peter takes on the challenge to figure him out.
Relationships: Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Making Some Headway

Initially, Peter Burke had some serious doubts that this paroled felon idea would work out. Maybe Neal did, too, because it took a while for the two men to feel comfortable around each other. But now, Peter allowed himself to breathe a bit easier because his responsibility seemed to be settling in. Neal quickly learned the limits of his radius and stayed put, except for the times he decided to casually drop in on the Burke residence in Brooklyn. Peter got tired of the calls from the attentive Marshals and had his home exempted just to keep his phone from blowing up and disrupting his day off. Peter also noticed that Neal was leaving his mark at the Bureau office. He had inexplicably added a personal item to his desk in the form of a small bust of Socrates.

“What’s with the old Greek philosopher?” Peter had asked not long after it had appeared.

Neal merely shrugged. “I have eclectic interests, and Socrates was an interesting guy.”

Peter nodded his head thoughtfully. “Yeah, I seem to recall from my college philosophy classes that they even named something after him called the Socratic Method.”

“I thought you were a mathlete,” Neal teased.

Peter ignored the taunt and continued. “The Socratic Method is a form of argumentative dialogue between individuals based on asking and answering questions to draw out information. Sort of like what we usually have going on.”

Neal wasn’t going to allow Peter to top him. “Actually, Socrates was an enigma. He never wrote down any of his teachings, and what we think we know about him comes from others, which, of course, could be tainted. To say the least, many accounts were contradictory, so that’s become known in philosophy as the Socratic Problem. Does that sound like anyone you know, Peter?”

Neal’s handler smiled in an inscrutable sort of way as he tapped the top of the small figurine. “Maybe, but I think I’m making some ‘headway’ in figuring out a young Socrates.”


End file.
